<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>thank you for being a friend by Nokomis</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27294967">thank you for being a friend</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nokomis/pseuds/Nokomis'>Nokomis</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Batfamily (DCU), Fluff and Humor, Gen, Gratuitous Golden Girls References, Halloween Costumes, This is a ridiculous bit of Halloween fun, Undercover Missions</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 18:28:35</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,711</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27294967</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nokomis/pseuds/Nokomis</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>In which deciding what costume to wear to a Halloween party mission takes more time than the actual bust, aka Steph, Tim and Jason argue about group costumes, go to a party, and somehow manage to fit in a little crimefighting.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>121</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>thank you for being a friend</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Written for jes-cher, for the <a href="https://nokomiss.tumblr.com/post/633444763166818304/thank-you-for-being-a-friend-for-jes-cher-who">tumblr prompt</a> <i>Steph+another member of the batfam doing a group costume?</i></p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“It’s a Halloween party, though, so we can just wear our uniforms and blend in.”</p>
<p>Steph stared. “You’re kidding, right?”</p>
<p>“No?” Tim said.</p>
<p>“You think that we can just all waltz in there in our stupid-expensive uniforms and people will just assume we got them at Party City? Have you <i>seen</i> a Party City costume?”</p>
<p>Jason snorted. “She’s got a point, Replacement.”</p>
<p>“I think that you’re overly complicating it,” Tim said.</p>
<p>Steph stared again, then turned to Jason. “You heard that, right? <i>Tim</i> just told <i>me</i> that I was overly complicating things?”</p>
<p>Before Jason even had a chance to formulate a response, Tim sighed. “Jason, you don’t understand where this is leading.”</p>
<p>“Where do you think this is leading?” Steph asked, narrowing her eyes. Jason leaned back and watched the two of them, looking entirely too amused.</p>
<p>“You <i>know</i> that you love stupid group costumes,” Tim said.</p>
<p>“Uh, I’m pretty sure we <i>all</i> love stupid group costumes, we go out every night in them,” Steph said. She would not be shamed. She was among her own people here.</p>
<p>“I do not go out in <i>a group costume</i> with you losers every night,” Jason said.</p>
<p>“Do you or do you not have a giant bat-symbol on your shirt?” Steph crossed her arms over her chest.</p>
<p>Jason remained silent up until Tim snorted, at which point he jabbed a finger in Tim’s direction and said, “Not a word out of you until you’ve had a single original outfit ever.”</p>
<p>“Pants,” Tim sing-songed, unfazed by Jason’s threats. “I revolutionized Robin and you know it.”</p>
<p>“My point is, I refuse to go in the shitty version of my outfit, or worse, the sexy version, so we absolutely need undercover costumes to wear,” Steph said loudly. “Besides, we all three know that my Robin uniform was the most revolutionary, not one of you fools added hair accessories. Do you have any idea how many weapons and lockpicks you can hide in a headband?”</p>
<p>She settled comfortably into her chair, pulling out her phone to find costume options, secure in the knowledge that she’d won the argument. </p>
<p>The case was a relatively simple one -- there was word about a mysterious shipment coming through Gotham, a contact claiming the major players were going to be at a Halloween bash, and Batgirl, Red Robin, and Red Hood had all noticed the case, no one had wanted to give it up, and thus the teamup had occurred.</p>
<p>“We’re not actually going undercover,” Jason tried to argue, but Steph just shushed him. </p>
<p>“We’re doing this. Ooh! Group costume! So we can find each other!” Steph said, scrolling through different ideas. “What should we do? Rocky Horror? That meme of the lady yelling at the cat? Ghostbusters? Heathers?” </p>
<p>“We are not going as the Heathers,” Tim said, rolling his eyes.</p>
<p>“Wait, would we get croquet mallets? I can cause a lot of chaos with a croquet mallet.” Jason grinned at them.</p>
<p>“We’re aiming to blend in, not draw attention to ourselves,” Tim said.</p>
<p>Steph had to agree. “True. We get you two out there in miniskirts, and we’re gonna draw all sorts of attention.”</p>
<p>“Hell yeah,” Jason said, patting his own thigh proudly.</p>
<p>“I’ll order something low key,” Tim said.  </p>
<p>Steph and Jason looked at each other in dismay. “Low key?”</p>
<p>“You can’t go low key at a Gotham Halloween party,” Jason said seriously. “That’ll stand out even more than our shapely legs.”</p>
<p>“Honestly, Tim.” Steph shook her head.</p>
<p>Tim looked briefly heavenward, then said, “Okay, do you want to be in charge of costumes?”</p>
<p>“Yes,” Steph and Jason said simultaneously. They eyed each other. </p>
<p>“Teamwork is a thing,” Steph said, doubtful about the possibility, but she was far more doubtful in Jason’s ability to choose a group costume up to her standards without her.</p>
<p>Jason seemed to be having similar thoughts.</p>
<p>Tim looked between them, realized the chaos that was about to ensue, and said tactfully, “I’m going to go out, check on these sources, make sure the info’s good,” as though they hadn’t all already independently checked the sources.  </p>
<p>“Weak,” Jason crowed at him as he left.</p>
<p>That left Steph and Jason alone with all the costume ideas the internet had to offer.  It was more of a challenge that Steph would have thought. </p>
<p>“You know those costumes where someone has to be the horse’s ass? I vote we pick that. Dibs on Tim being the ass.”  Jason propped his feet up on the table and looked smug, as though his idea was brilliant.</p>
<p>“Great plan,” Steph said. “Super easy to split up and find our mark dressed like <i>that</i>.”</p>
<p>“Oh yeah, the mark,” Jason said. “Well. There are plenty of options.”</p>
<p>They spent several minutes attempting to come up with one, but to no avail.  </p>
<p>Steph froze on one option, struck with the brilliance of it. “What do you think it would take to get Bruce and Damian to patrol as the Mandalorian and Baby Yoda?”</p>
<p>“Surely between the two of us we have enough blackmail and guilt tripping to make it happen,” Jason said, “especially since it would spawn so much more blackmail material.”</p>
<p>“A totally sound investment.” Steph offered up a high five, which Jason met enthusiastically.</p>
<p>Steph kept scrolling, hoping for a group costume inspiration that didn’t involve t-shirts and tutus, but ideas were far more elusive than she would have thought.</p>
<p>“You know, I’m really rethinking our stance on the Heathers outfits,” Jason said, just as Steph hit paydirt.</p>
<p>“I have a better idea,” Steph said, holding her phone out gleefully. </p>
<p>Jason grinned.</p>
<p>*</p>
<p>“I’m sorry, Tim, you didn’t <i>want</i> to get recognized, right?”</p>
<p>Tim scowled, which made Steph frown at him and say, “You need to get into character.”</p>
<p>“I don’t know why you’re making me Rose,” he grumbled, adjusting his wig. </p>
<p>“Because Jason is twelve feet tall, he has to be Dorothy,” Steph explained. “And you blush if you even hear a double entendre, there’s no way you could pull off Blanche.”</p>
<p>“I do <i>not</i> blush,” Tim protested.</p>
<p>Steph opened her mouth to prove the point, and he immediately clapped his hand over it. “Stop, I regret saying that, whatever horrible thing you were just planning on announcing, just… don’t.”</p>
<p>“See? You, sir, are no Blanche.”</p>
<p>Jason laughed, adjusting the way his own dress fit over his shoulders. They had to forgo masks, but the dresses were loose enough to hide most of their costumes underneath for a quick change.  </p>
<p>The party was already in swing when they arrived, even though it was barely dark. The costumes were perfect-- amid all the bright spandex, colorful wigs, and knockoff superhero costumes, their grey wigs and floral old lady dresses were easy to spot. </p>
<p>The mark showed up after just thirty minutes of dancing and mingling, watching and listening carefully. Steph danced up to Jason, who was nursing a drink with a comical amount of fruit skewered in it and scanning the crowd. “Got eyes on him,” she said. </p>
<p>Jason tossed back the drink and set it down. Steph snagged the skewer of fruit, eating it as they danced their way back through the crowd towards the mark. Steph tapped Tim on the shoulder as they passed him, and together they followed the guy away from the dance floor and down a long dark hall. </p>
<p>The guy noticed them as he was about to unlock a door, turning and saying, “Private hallway. Party’s back that way.”</p>
<p>“You sure?” Jason leaned heavily against the door and Steph stepped behind the mark, pressing the now-empty skewer into his back between his shoulder blades. </p>
<p>“Open the door,” Tim said from the other side.</p>
<p>“Please tell me the goddamn Golden Girls aren’t trying to shake me down,” the guy said, clunking his head against the door. </p>
<p>Steph glanced between Jason and Tim, then shrugged. “Yep. That’s what’s happening. Open the door or it happens here in the hallway, where anyone could wander by and put it on youtube.”</p>
<p>The guy stared at the door, presumably weighing his options, before deciding that defeat came before humiliation and opened the door.</p>
<p>One glance around showed that was a mistake; Steph could see multiple crates still marked with the code they’d all noticed associated with the shipments they were chasing after. Tim slid over to the desk, and stared down at the papers scattered there. Steph could tell from his flabbergasted expression that all the evidence they needed was just lying there in the open.</p>
<p>She pulled a taser out of her pocket and hit the guy with a jolt, sending him falling to the floor unconscious. </p>
<p>“This was almost too easy, right?” Jason glanced at them.</p>
<p>“Shhh, don’t say that, you’ll curse us,” Steph said. “We’re going to accept that for once things are going smooth.”</p>
<p>Tim took photos of the evidence while Jason and Steph took samples of everything, which lined up with their assumptions about what was going on. It was easily the easiest take-down she’d had in months. Maybe there was something to be said for teamwork.</p>
<p>““Sophia!” Tim said suddenly, staring down at the unconscious drug runner. “I could have been  Sophia!”</p>
<p>“Do you really see yourself as a Sophia?” Jason said, doubt obvious in his tone.</p>
<p>“Do you really see me as a Rose?” Tim shot back.</p>
<p>Steph snickered, finding untold joy in how very seriously Tim was taking his role. “I guess we should go,” she said. They’d accomplished all the vigilantism they’d come here for. </p>
<p>A pause. </p>
<p>“Maybe,” Jason said, glancing back in the direction of the party, “we should stick around. Make sure nothing else nefarious is happening. The dude could have had contacts here, it was his party.”</p>
<p>“You just want some of those cupcakes,” Tim accused. </p>
<p>“Jason has a point,” Steph said, zip-tying the mark and stepping back, admiring her handiwork. “We could call this in anonymously, and go back to the party. No one saw who took him down.”</p>
<p>“Plus, we all heard B mention earlier he had a stakeout he needed someone to cover,” Jason said. “Gotta keep busy.”</p>
<p>Tim weighed his options, then said, “Well. I mean. You can’t just have two Golden Girls, no one would get the costumes.”</p>
<p>“Exactly,” Steph said, beaming. “Can’t waste a good costume.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>(Steph already had a plan for the next costume party stakeout, which given Gotham’s flair for the dramatic, would absolutely happen again -- Team Batgirl showing up as the Sanderson Sisters from Hocus Pocus, Babs leading the way with her red hair piled up in a riot of curls on top of her head, Cass bedecked in her gown her hair tucked up into a pointy hat, and Steph laughing with her blonde hair flowing free. The Golden Girls had been fun, but a missed opportunity was a missed opportunity, and Steph was going to rectify that as soon as she could.)</p>
<p>come say <a href="https://nokomiss.tumblr.com/">hi on tumblr!</a></p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>